A Werelupe Tale by spuddie_hang |  |
In the depths of the forests surrounding the Haunted Woods,
there is nothing but an unbreakable darkness that will overtake the hearts of
any whom are unfortunate enough to get lost within it. Vile creatures roam the
shadows of the forest, fruitlessly wandering and searching for something... anything
that will remind them of their long forgotten pasts. These creatures were once,
long ago, regular beings just like any other Neopet, until they were swallowed
whole by the never ending silence and gloominess. Thus, they become bound to the
forest by some invisible force, and are cursed till the end of their days. Soon
many of them forget their past and the only thing they'll ever be able to remember
is the loneliness of the Haunted Woods and its dreadful atmosphere, and then it
becomes their home; the only home they'll ever know. And so the life of these
creatures become one long, sad tale, filled with hatred for the forest, yet also
filled with an indescribable liking to the forest and its bitter ambience.
Yet, above all others, there is but one creature's
tale that overshadows all others, and that is the tale of the most unlikely
creature anyone would ever feel sympathetic for: a WereLupe. WereLupes are commonly
referred to as merciless, formidable beings that care for nothing else but themselves.
But, if you were to experience all the pains and sufferings any common WereLupe
has been through, then you'd be as formidable and merciless as they are. Not
many people know this, but the becoming a WereLupe is not mandatory; it is,
in fact, a choice. Any Lupe who has been through a bitter life can either choose
to continue living their lives, or to forfeit themselves to the Haunted Woods
and reside in there until the darkness overwhelms their souls and eventually
their cruel past is forgotten and they become daunting creatures. Hence, their
existence is soon erased from the world of Neopia, as well as their past, and
they're doomed to aimlessly wander the perimeter of the Haunted Woods for life.
This life, unfortunately, was the life chosen
by a rather infamous Lupe long ago: Ruali. Ruali had nothing to live for since
birth, for his owner had recklessly abandoned him in the pound in order to make
room for another pet. The only kindness Ruali ever knew was from the good-hearted
Dr. Death, who fed and took care of him. Of course that was Dr. Death's job,
but Ruali didn't know any better, and even if he did, he wouldn't have cared.
Dr. Death was like a father to him, and Ruali always looked forward to his coming.
Every time he came through the doors of the pound, Ruali would hop around excitedly
in his small cage and bark gleefully. The 2 minutes Dr. Death spent feeding
him was always the zenith of his days, and he thought life could get no better.
Months passed, and Ruali grew under the care
Dr. Death. He made few friends in the pound because many of them were adopted
a few weeks after their meeting. But he didn't mind, as long as he stayed under
the care of the "wonderful Doctor," everything was jolly. And he made sure he
stayed in the pound, too; whenever some anxious Neopians would enter the pound
looking for a new addition to their family, Ruali would go into 'mad-Lupe mood.'
He barked, he growled, and he sometimes would chew on the bars of his cage if
necessary. This act succeeded in scaring away every Neopian, and Dr. Death would
be left wondering why no one would adopt the young Lupe. Soon, Dr. Death found
out about the act Ruali was pulling, and secretly devised a plan to disburden
himself of the Lupe.
It was early morning, and Ruali woke up sharply
so he would be awake when Dr. Death brought in breakfast. But, instead, he found
himself in a different place. He was lying inside a small bed in front of a
fireplace, and instead of the cold, metallic smell that he grew fond of in the
Pound, he found himself drooling at the scent of roast turkey. And there it
was: a huge platter of steamy turkey sitting in the middle of a table across
the room. At the table sat a female human, surrounded by her two pets: a Gelert
and a Poogle. Confused, Ruali cowered down and tried to hide himself among the
blankets of the basket. How did he get there? Where was Dr. Death? But, before
these questions bore themselves into Ruali's mind, they were answered.
"Where did you get him?" asked the Gelert at
the table.
"At the pound. He was sleeping, and he looked
so cute that I adopted him," replied the human.
"He still is sleeping," said the Poogle, munching
happily on some golden ivy leaves. So, while eavesdropping on his new "family's"
little conversation, Ruali pieced together the facts and figured out what happened;
and he grew cold with sadness and fear. He desperately missed Dr. Death, and
nipped himself on the paw for sleeping so much. If he had been awake, he could've
barked and shooed that human away, and would've never gotten himself in this
situation.
"Oh, look, the puppy's awake!" The Gelert hopped
over to Ruali's basket and smiled. "Hi, I'm Wren, you're new big sister." Ruali
grew frightened and buried his nose in the corner of the basket, telling himself
over and over that this was just a horrible nightmare.
"The pup's acting weird, Mum," said Wren to
her human.
"Oh, he's just shy. He'll get used to us soon,"
replied the human, walking over to Wren. Wren giggled.
"Don't worry, pup. We're nice folks," she said.
But Ruali was worrying; he wondered why Dr.
Death was taking so long to wake him up from this nightmare. But after a few
minutes, tears formed in Ruali's eyes when he finally realized Dr. Death wasn't
there anymore.
Life from then on was a big blur to Ruali. He
refused to have any contact with his family and about the only thing he ever
did was sleep. But he wasn't stubborn, though; he ate the food they offered
him, he took care of the toys they gave him, etc. But no matter how much the
family tried to make him happy, he still remained secluded. His heart yearned
to see Dr. Death, and he almost lost all hope of seeing his beloved Doctor until
one day the human, who was named Sendy, asked him if he would like to go shopping
with her and her pets.
This was the first time Sendy asked him that,
and he knew what shopping was. Shopping meant going outside; shopping meant
"freedom." This was the perfect chance for him to escape. And for the first
time for weeks, Ruali was excited. He jumped up from his bed and wagged his
tail gleefully, and Sendy's rosy cheeks glowed when she saw the sudden change
in him. In a few minutes, Ruali was through the front door of his Neohome. The
warm rays from the sun blinded him a little for he wasn't used to such brightness
after weeks of staying indoors. He didn't mind, though, because today was the
day he was going to return to his rightful owner.
"Okay, first off, let's check the book shop,"
said Sendy as she stepped outside with a big bag of NP in her hands. But, by
then, Ruali was halfway down Neopia Central. He pointed his nose towards the
clouds as he tried to smell his way back to the Pound, but all the odors were
unfamiliar to him. But he kept on running, anyhow, because nothing mattered
more to him than the Pound and Dr. Death and he knew that if he stopped, that
would only delay his search. But, even a determined Lupe gets tired some time.
So as he was running, Ruali realized that his breaths were now short, heavy
wheezes and the sky was turning darker. So he stopped, and hid himself in some
bushes off the main road.
That night, grey shadows haunted Ruali's mind.
Neopia Central was different after dark; there was an endless silence and there
was no visible moon to shine light upon Neopia. But, despite the ominous blackness
surrounding him, Ruali was happy. He now knew which direction Dr. Death was
in, because at night there were no other scents to side-track him from the smell
of the Pound. He imagined that his reunion with the doctor would be a joyous
occasion, and that he would return to his old cage and will continue on life
with his beloved Dr. Death until the end of his days.
Ruali was up at dawn the next day, just before
the sun was completely over the horizon, and was heading towards the Pound.
He took his time though, and cherished each step that brought him closer and
closer to his home. And, when the sun finally rose above the horizon, Ruali
saw it: the grey building just a few yards ahead. Before he knew it, he was
running towards the front door, yelping with happiness.
Inside the pound, behind his desk, Dr. Death
was putting on his coat when he heard barking outside. Curious, he opened his
front door to see what was making all the noise and was suddenly tackled down
by a ball of fur with legs and ears.
But their reunion wasn't what he expected. As
he lay there, sprawled on top of Dr. Death, Ruali looked at the corner where
his old cage was supposed to be, and saw that it was occupied. Abashed, he hopped
off the doctor and looked at him with a puzzled expression. Why had the doctor
given away his cage to a stray Pteri?
Dr. Death ignored Ruali's confused look, stood
up, and dusted himself off. He picked up Ruali, and for a moment the little
Lupe felt overjoyed because he thought the doctor was about to hug him, but
instead the doctor placed him outside the door.
"I thought I got rid of you long ago, Ruali,"
said Dr. Death grimly. "Go on, run along home, Lupe. You're new owner must be
worried about you." Thus, Dr. Death slammed the door shut.
An overwhelming feeling then overcame Ruali.
What had he done wrong? Why did not the doctor embrace him happily as he had
imagined he would? Soon, the fondness that Ruali once had for Dr. Death disappeared,
and he was then filled with anger and hatred. Did Dr. Death even know what he
went through just to return to his cold, crummy Pound? A dark cloud passed over
Ruali as he turned around and walked away. After he had walked a few steps,
Ruali stopped, expecting the doctor to fling open the door to stop him from
leaving. But that didn't happen, and Ruali sadly continued walking away.
From then on, Ruali never came within a mile
of the Pound. He lived as an outcast, and avoided contact with anything. He
slept whenever he could, but most of the time he just wandered the streets of
Neopia Central. No one paid heed to the grim Lupe, and Ruali felt abandoned
by all. After months of roaming those familiar paths and roads, he grew weary
of Neopia Central. It never really was a real home to him; he thought that he
was more of a visitor than a resident of the Neopia Central. He then forsook
his useless life strolling the streets and found himself aimlessly journeying
south.
He didn't know where he was going, and frankly
he didn't care where he was going to end up. The land south of Neopia Central
was pure prairie and hills. There were overgrown brush and weeds everywhere,
and Ruali spent his nights curled up among the blades of grass. But, the land
didn't stay pure and beautiful along the way. The more he traveled south, the
more desolate and dark the land was.
Thus, Ruali found himself in the region of the
Haunted Woods. The creepy inhabitants and the darkness of the whole place became
his liking, and he found himself quite comfortable in its spooky atmosphere.
After a few weeks, Ruali found himself some daily paths to walk, that brought
him past the Esophagor and the Brain Tree. He grew fond of hearing the Brain
Tree telling Neopians that they didn't get the answer right, and he enjoyed
watching the Esophagor groan and moan and eventually scare away tourists. But,
what he liked most about the whole place, though, was the bizarre forest that
surrounded it. Often, he would stay up at night and would wander into the forest
alone. He didn't wander too deep into the forest, though, but he was often tempted
to see what lay beyond its shadows.
After months of residing in the Haunted Woods,
Ruali's past soon caught up with him and he was forced once again to experience
the pain he went through. Those months long ago, where he would lie in the basket
longing for Dr. Death and the Pound, engulfed his mind and he regretted ever
thinking that Dr. Death was like a father to him. Now, regret and hurt overcame
him, and he desperately wished to erase and forget his past. He had heard about
the forest surrounding the Haunted Woods being a refuge to Neopians like him,
and thought about entering its darkness more than once, but deep inside Ruali
was truly afraid of it. So he stayed away from the forest, left to cope with
his suffering alone, but as each day passed his longing to enter the forest
grew and grew.
Before long, he was lured into the forest's
impenetrable darkness and lost himself within it. Ruali's mind was soon corrupted
and his aggrieved past was forgotten to all, including himself, but the sadness
from his past still remained. His cowardly attempt to forsake his past succeeded,
yet he did not succeed in erasing the memory of his grief. Thus his tale ends,
for from then on Ruali's life became that of a common Werelupe's life and has
never changed since.
The End
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